Fritz Lang is one of the true pioneers of cinema, best known for his visionary silent film Metropolis and the crime thriller M. His early career bridged the gap between the avant-garde Expressionist movement and popular entertainment, which then lead to working in the epic format, with some films running over four hours in length. After moving to the U.S. in the mid-thirties, he became one of the pre-eminent directors of what would eventually be called the Film Noir style. While his English language films were not regarded very highly at the time, especially compared to his silent work, the French New Wave critics have since bolstered his reputation and viewed him as one of the more important directors of the 1940's and 50's.
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is an unique film in Lang's career, being one of only two sound features he made in Germany before his departure, and also a loose dovetail sequel to two earlier films. The title character, an evil mastermind from Lang's two-part silent film Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, appears here only as a raving madman locked in a mental institution, while ambitious crimes he imagines somehow continue to terrorize the city. Also, Inspector Lohmann, the hero of Lang's previous film M returns here to solve an even more complex case than before.
Much more than a simple suspense thriller, Mabuse explores the danger of the vacuum left in the wake of World War I, where a corrupt society begins to feed on itself, with morals and ethics thrown out the window. Looked at as a warning of the rising of Nazi power (some of Mabuse's rants come directly from actual speeches by Hitler) and the dangers of blind allegiance, it's not surprising the film was banned in Germany by Joseph Goebbels, who claimed it was an "instruction manual for terrorist action". Lang left the country soon after, and did not make another film there for 25 years.
Not only is the film prescient in social and political matters, but stylistically is at least 10 years ahead of its time. In addition to the Expressionist elements used so heavily in Film Noir, one sees framing, editing, and sound design techniques that anticipate the work of Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, and directors of various horror films to come. Also, the heavily-detailed police procedural scenes lend an authentic touch that would become a hallmark of crime films thereafter.
Lang's paranoid view of the world would spill over into his American films, which gave his Noir stylings an extra edge. No institution avoided his cynical glare: law enforcement, the government, the art world, journalism, and the public itself. He also proved himself adept at making Westerns and and adventure films before his illustrious career was over.
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